Rush tops this week's CD reviews

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Darryl Sterdan, QMI Agency

Jan 16, 2013

, Last Updated: 4:02 PM ET

HEAR IT

Rush
2112: Super Deluxe Edition

There are two kinds of Rush fans: Those who worship 2112, and those who think the first group doesn’t go far enough. (Anyone not in either camp is clearly not a Rush fan and should therefore be subject to immediate RCMP detention and subsequent deportation.) But no matter their level of love for Dirk, Lerxst and Pratt, any fan will want to get their sweaty mitts on the deluxe version of the proggy power trio’s game-changing 1976 magnum opus. The main album — anchored by the titular sci-fi fable about an anonymous everyman’s quest to bring music to a dystopian future ruled by evil priests — gets the standard sonic upgrade and live bonus tracks, along with the usual pan-and-sweep 5.1 Surround Sound mixes on DVD or Blu-Ray. But in truth, the revamped audio is fairly average; the real lure is the graphics and packaging. The Super Deluxe Edition ($52 online) comes in a hardcover book with plenty of pics and liner notes, plus a 40-page comic that illustrates the songs (the DVD and Blu-Ray have digital versions). If all that doesn’t excite your inner Rush geek, you should probably just call the Mounties and get it over with.

RATING: 3.5 (out of 5)

SKIP IT

Black Veil Brides
Wretched & Divine: The Story of The Wild Ones

Wild? And then some. Andy Six and his Hollywood glam-slammers pull out all the stops for this third disc, penning a full-on rock opera about freedom fighters in a dystopian future — set to the strains of a bombastically gothy metalcore shredfest that fuses elements of Metallica, Mötley and My Chemical Romance. Ultimately, it’s neither wretched nor divine, but hey, points for trying.

RATING: 2 (out of 5)

Hollywood Undead
Notes from the Underground

Zombies are all the rage. Hopefully that popularity doesn’t extend to this brain-dead sextet of masked mooks from the City of Angels. Their third disc’s title may recall Dostoevsky (undoubtedly news to them), but their aggressively lunkheaded collision of rap-metal, party-rock and power balladry is both crime and punishment. Where’s Rick with a giant machete when you need him?

RATING: 1 (out of 5)

ALBUMS

Jimbo Mathus & The Tri-State Coalition
White Buffalo

Y’all may recall Mathus from swing revivalists Squirrel Nut Zippers. Well, forget that. The singer-guitarist’s 10th southern-fried solo outing is a rollicking roots-rocker that echoes everyone from Hank to Hendrix to the Stones’ country honk. Break out the bourbon.

RATING: 4 (out of 5)

Yo La Tengo
Fade

YLT are in a mood. Understandably. A year after singer-guitarist Ira Kaplan’s still-undisclosed health crisis, the Hoboken trio return with an intimate 13th disc dominated by acoustic guitars, calm melodies and reflective lyrics about aging and loss. Indelible.

RATING: 4 (out of 5)
The Joy Formidable
Wolf’s Law

Less joy, more formidable. Pint-sized Welsh powerhouse Ritzy Bryan and co. upgrade their big roar on this sophomore set, adding orchestral majesty and anti-materialist screeds to their shoegazing guitar squalls and lilting vocals. Survival of the loudest.

RATING: 4 (out of 5)

Classified
Classified

“I could never hate a man for being himself,” claims Classy. Fittingly, raspy Nova Scotia MC Luke Boyd keeps it real on his 15th release, eschewing bling-bling and boasting to celebrate life and family over infectiously upbeat home-made grooves. Gotta like that.

RATING: 3.5 (out of 5)

Bad Religion
True North

They say it’s a great life if you don’t weaken. BR should know. After 34 years, the SoCal punks’ moral compass hasn’t wavered; their 16th disc still fights the power with the pointedly political rants and stacked harmonies of their speed-demon anthems. Get in the pit.

RATING: 3.5 (out of 5)
FIDLAR
FIDLAR

It stands for F--- It Dog, Life’s A Risk. And it pithily sums up the impetuous L.A. garage-punks’ gloriously ramshackle debut — a tangle of noisy guitars and primitive drums that drive adolescent odes to surfing, skating, drinking and drugging. Wake and bake, bro.

RATING: 4 (out of 5)

Pere Ubu
The Lady from Shanghai

Call it The Post-Modern Dance. Some 35 years after PU’s singular debut, the peculiar David Thomas continues to test limits with Beefhearty constructs and experiments — though this lively 17th disc also boasts enough hooks, melodies and grooves to entertain.

RATING: 3.5 (out of 5)

twenty | one | pilots
Vessel

Yes, the lines in their name are silly. Less annoying: The way the Columbus duo’s debut crosses genre lines, nimbly skipping from bouncy piano-rock and witty hip-hop to electronica, screamo and reggae — sometimes in one song. Perfect for the ADD masses.

RATING: 4 (out of 5)

Foxygen
We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic

Crazy as it sounds, that title makes sense. This L.A. duo are modern-day musical emissaries whose second disc conjures the psychedelic-pop heyday of The Beatles, Kinks and Dylan, with dashes of garage and country for shiggles. If that ain’t magic, what is?

RATING: 3.5 (out of 5)

MORE ALBUMS

Various Artists
West of Memphis: Voices For Justice

Music helped convict the West Memphis 3. Much later, it helped free them. Fittingly, artists in the latter group — including Natalie Maines, Eddie Vedder and Henry Rollins — contribute to this companion disc from a new WM3 doc. It’s uneven, but moving at times.

RATING: 3 (out of 5)

Camper Van Beethoven
La Costa Perdida

They took skinheads bowling in 1985. Now, on their first disc in nine years, David Lowery and CVB take us to their Santa Cruz stomping grounds with summery alt-rock and psychedelic jams — offset by Lowery’s dusty vocals and arch lyrics. Many happy returns.

RATING: 3.5 (out of 5)

Petra Haden
Petra Goes to the Movies

Instruments? She don’t need no instruments! Seven years after her a cappella Who Sell Out, That Dog alum Haden releases the sequel: 16 film themes from Taxi Driver to Tootsie and Psycho to Superman, all rendered via lushly layered vocals. Enjoy the show.

RATING: 3.5 (out of 5)

Various Artists
Girls Volume 1

Are Hannah, Marnie, Jessa and Shashonna in your TV friendship circle? Strengthen that bond with this HBO soundtrack — which includes fair new tunes by fun., Santigold, Michael Penn and Grouplove, plus reruns from Robyn, Vaccines and more. It won’t hurt.

RATING: 3 (out of 5)

BOOKS

When is a Beck album not a Beck album? When it’s his new release Song Reader.
For those who have been wondering when the idiosyncratic alt-rocker will finally follow up his 2008 CD Modern Guilt, the good news is he’s spent the past few years writing music.
The bad news is he’s literally been writing it — but apparently not recording it.
Song Reader, issued in late 2012 by Dave Eggers’ mischievous publishing house McSweeney’s, contains 20 sets of sheet music for new Beck compositions with titles like Saint Dude, Rough on Rats, We All Wear Cloaks and Mutilation Rag.
Beck hasn’t recorded any of the tunes, but he has encouraged anyone and everyone else to.
“These songs are meant to be pulled apart and reshaped,” he said in an online Q&A to promote Song Reader. “I think some of the best covers will reimagine the chord structure, take liberties with the melodies, the phrasing, even the lyrics themselves.”
Plenty of folks have already taken him at his word: The official website songreader.net includes nearly 300 different versions — from solo acoustic-folk renditions to full-band guitar-rock blasts — while the Portland Cello Project has already covered the collection in full.
Interesting as that all may be, I can’t be alone in hoping that Beck will put down his pen and get crazy with the Cheez Whiz again sometime soon.

SINGLES

Justin Timberlake
Suit & Tie

Comeback of the Week No. 1: The original Justin is back after five years — and sporting a smooth ensemble of old-school dance-floor soul and R&B, with production by Timbaland and a Jay-Z cameo. Suit up and wait for his 20/20 Experience album.

David Bowie
Where Are We Now

Comeback No. 2: The man who sold the world shocked the world with his first new song in a decade. Granted, it’s a sombre ballad. And yeah, his voice has sounded better. Still, I know where I’ll be on March 11: Listening to his disc The Next Day.

Destiny’s Child
Nuclear

Comeback No. 3: Beyonce, Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams have reunited to cut at least one new tune. Produced by Pharrell and defined by a simmering beat and shimmering synths, it will appear on the trio’s Love Songs comp, out Jan. 29.

DVDs

The Pogues
In Paris

Amazing fact: Shane MacGowan is still alive. Even more amazing: The dissolute mush-mouth looks and sounds vaguely healthy on this recent, rambunctious reunion concert, which features most of the old gang tearing through all their hits. We’ll drink to that.

RATING: 3.5 (out of 5)

Steve Miller Band
Live at Austin City Limits

He’s a joker, he’s a smoker, sometimes he’s mediocre. Still, for those who love Miller’s breezy, Bachman-style guitar-rock, here’s his 2011 ACL episode, expanded with mucho extra footage and a chat with the space cowboy. Betcha weren’t ready for that.